Hamas resumes plan for weekend hostage swap

The Gaza-based terrorist group on Thursday said it would abide by hostage release dates outlined in the ceasefire agreement it reached with Israel earlier this year. The group said in a separate social media statement Thursday that it finally forced Israel to deliver caravans of humanitarian aid that it claimed the Israeli government had promised but never delivered. The terrorist group maintained that it had upheld its side of the ceasefire deal.

What had interrupted the plans in the ceasefire agreement? Earlier this week, the group said it would not hand over any more hostages until Israel upheld its side of the ceasefire agreement. Shortly after, U.S. President Donald Trump said that if Hamas didn’t release all the hostages by noon on Saturday, the ceasefire would be off and violence would return to Gaza. Trump also said that Hamas should no longer release the hostages in small groups, but rather all at once.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard and William Inboden’s discussion on The World and Everything in It podcast about Trump’s efforts to reshape international issues.